Lahnert: Aggies' Manziel earned my Heisman vote

Voting this year for the Heisman Trophy was unlike any other I’ve had the good fortune to vote in.

I’m not talking about how for the first time in the Heisman’s 78-year history voting was handled online. There were no more written ballots.

What I’m talking about is when Baylor put the kibosh on Kansas State, 52-24. On Nov. 17, the Heisman — fair, or not — became a two-horse race, eliminating my leading candidate, K-State quarterback Collin Klein.

What the made the vote even more interesting were the remaining two horses.

Those two guys would have to buck off history set forth by past Heisman tradition and winners to walk off with the coolest trophy an individual can call their own in all of sports.

Would Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel become the first redshirt-freshman to win the Heisman?

Would Notre Dame’s emotional linebacker Manti Te’o become the first defense-only player to take home the Heisman?

If your heart beats for college football — and mine does, except for an escape artist named Tommy Tuberville no longer of Texas Tech — the Heisman should be taken home by Te’o.

Nobody on the planet — not even the ND coaches — expected the Irish to run the table without a loss at 12-0 and wind up playing in the BCS national championship game against Alabama.

Where would defense-minded Notre Dame be without its heart and soul Te’o picking off those seven passes and inspiring the entire ND campus with his story of handling the death of those closest to him.

Why wouldn’t Notre Dame be a .500 team without Te’o making play after play? The tape doesn’t lie. His defensive coaches say he missed two tackles all season. His coach, Brian Kelly, basically said after his final game the Heisman ceremony shouldn’t go on if a guy like Te’o and what he stands for and meant to a team doesn’t win the award.

Voting with the heart for me is voting for Te’o.

But my vote didn’t go to Te’o. He’s not even the best defensive player in college. I saw a better defender watching Alabama and Georgia play in the SEC championship game.

That brings us to Johnny Football. While I’m not a fan of the ridiculously corny nickname, or that arrest of his, I am convinced the best player in college football this year was Johnny Manziel.

Come on now, nobody lit up TV screens across America this fall like Manziel. His ability to pull Texas A&M up from a team most people thought would get crushed by SEC competition, into a legit national contender.

For me, to lead the Aggies past Alabama on the road was a Heisman moment. Heisman moments win the Heisman Trophy.

So ballot No. 495 this year was cast for a freshman named Johnny Manziel.